Birth
by Bryrony
Summary: Inspired by Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobelle Carmody. This is about two British tourists who come across a woman and her family in the river, the interesting thing is what she is doing in the river, eh! eh?
1. Chapter 1

A/N I wrote this probably about 2 years ago when i was in year 8, i won the story writing competition with this and won $50! but this is just the first chapter. The competition word cut off was 1000 words so i had to shorten the story dramatically, so to submit this here i decided to lengthen it back to what is more like its original state, actually i think this version is better, I'll upload part 2 soon.

"Oh god, the air burns each time I breathe" complained a small stout woman.

"Mmm, darling," too hot to reply properly. They didn't have wether like this in England, well except that one summer in 2006. They were dragging themselves to a river to swim. Of course, keeping an eye out for snakes. This Australian weather was going to be the end of them, they were sure of it. The hot, humid air melted over them making it feel as if they were in a sauna, the flies constantly buzzing around their heads, scorching hot road, and then after days the reliving rain come gushing down bucket, after bucket of freezing rain cooling the air and leaving the ground warm. Unfortunately the rainy days were a little while late. So they decided to go to a river they had heard about while stopping at a local café and hearing some of the local kids talking about going for a swim.

"Oh my god! It's so fuckin' hot."

"No fucking shit Sarah." This was met with laughter from all of the group. There was 4 of them, two boys, two girls. One of them was a knockout. She had at least a D cup, perfect tan, straight white teeth with hazel eyes and light brown hair. The British male seemed to be taking special interest in her. She was who the couple assumed was Sarah. She was serving customers whilst talking to her friends all hanging out behind the derelict counter with at least 30 years of carvings and graffiti on it.

"Well Sarah we all know your hot, hot for me that is" This unfortunately for the boy was met with large groans from the other three.

"You are such a noob Warbs." he just shrugged he's shoulders and grabbed a coke out of the fridge. Sarah turned and started to wipe tables and Warbs silently approached her and stuck the cold coke bottle down the neck of her shirt. Sarah screamed and writhed to get away from him while the kids cracked up laughing. Warbs let her go still smiling and Sarah turned around and slapped him on the shoulder.

"God you ARE a noob and you gotta pay for that coke now, I was gonna let it slide."

"Oh no, how will I ever afford two bucks, I think I might die! Geez Sarah, some harsh words there, calling me a noob, I'm devo, upside-down smiley face and all." Sarah tried not the smile, tried being the key word.

The girl who answered Sarah after the comment that started it decided to steer the conversation.

"Anyways guys when Sarah finishes her shift we should all go down to the creek."

"Good idea Nat, ill be finished in 5 anyway. Ya think I should close up early?"

"Yeah I think so, what do you think Blake?"

"Sure, but aren't there people over there?"

"Oh crap, I'm sorry guys did u want anything else?" Sarah said addressing the couple.

"No no it's ok, but we would like to know where the creek is."

"Oh cool, its just down Clerk Street for about a kilometre then when you get to stonebridge haven crescent just turn right. And follow it, then turn into the 2nd paddock and keep going straight."

"Thank you young lady" said the lady.

"No probs." She said and started clearing away the remanets of chocolate milkshakes and a large chips. After this the children all helped to lock up and they all decided to stop off at Sarah's to go and get towels but as Warbs claimed, "Towels aren't the only thing we're getting" this used in conjunction with a sharp pinch Sarah's arse received a dig in the ribs.

The rather stout English lady was craning her neck to try to keep those young men in sight. This earned a rather venomous glare from her husband.

"What? I would be staring at you like that if you'd been bothered to keep your body looking like that."

"Same for you hon." This was met with a glare with the intensity to match her husbands. At which after a grand total of two seconds they both laughed.

The couple strolled off to they're hotel holding hands as they went.

"Honey?"

"Mmm?"

"When should we go?"

"Dunno we should probably go just after midday"

"Sounds like a plan" she kissed him and they walked up to the hotel gate and opened it cringing at the squeak.

"Ah here's Stonebridge" commented the man

"oh thank god, the road is so hot its melting my thongs" Sighing the women changed direction and set her eyes to the second paddock.

Flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, flop, the thongs made a beat making the walk seem rather ceremonious.

Entering the paddock the man scratched furiously at he's leg where the grass was irritating him. The flies buzzed and buzzed and they waved and waved.

"We should have bought our aero guard," commented the woman pluckily. The man remained silent, smelling the harsh dry air that seemed to suck all moisture from he lungs.

All of a sudden they felt a great cool sensation as they stepped into the shady path, leading into the forest where the river lies. They revelled in the pleasure and took in great big breathes of cool damp air in the glade. The luscious green of the ferns and the dry looking trees made such an interesting contrast. The woman was amazed and paused to look closely at the bark. Back in England trees didn't have such a light bark, and certainly weren't as tall, they were rather dark and short. She wasn't quite sure which ones she liked better. She knew there was one thing she liked more about England, the climate. It may not be as sunny but at least it was consistent and you knew what to expect. Unlike this Australian weather, it's hot and dry one minute and freezing and wet the next, literally, the first day they came, they took one step out of the airport into a 38-degree day and almost fainted. They walked 10 steps and heard a sound a lot like rain. The smell of damp earth settled over them a cool breeze rushed over them and they turned, just in time to see a massive thick curtain of rain sweep over them drenching them within seconds.

A few moments later they heard the loud "Tooo-wit, tooo-wit" of a bird, high in the canopy and the warbling of the black and white magpies lazily gliding through the branches, too hot to look for food. The cawing of they're adolescents clumsily jumping from branch to branch, ignoring the heat. Slow rustle, rustle of the echidna crossing the path as it's belly rubbed on the ground and its little feet struggling to keep it moving.

"Beep-eep!"

"Oh what a marvellous shot of that eh-kid-nah" said the man as he viewed the photo on he's digital camera. He has to articulate each syllable of the word echidna to break out of the habit of calling them "E-chid-nays".

"Oh excellent, I hear you don't often see echidnas in these parts."

"I'm going to miss Australia, it will seem so dull and boring once we go back to Lancashire."

"Same here darling, maybe we'll go and stay with cousin Claire and her husband Patrick on her farm just outside of Bristol, just to ease ourselves back into England life."

"I'd like that darling." They both turned to look at each other, smiled and linked arms.

A/N Ok so its not reaaly that much of a fanfiction yet, the other part of the story is the part that was inspired by Alyzon Whitestarr by Isobelle Carmody. Please read and review, i know how many people are reading this! i want you to review it as well!!!! :D


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Finished! yay for me! this story has been evolving for aages! i hope you enjoy part two, it is a bit longer than the last chapter and hopefully twice as good :3. I decided that no one will have names except one person, you'll have to read to find out :).

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The trees sighed and groaned as a northern wind disturbed the rather still day and made them drop their dried dead leaves onto me as a laid in the shallows on the creek. I felt the hot dry wind dry the water in my hair and the droplets on my eyelashes. I breathed in calm and breathed out any negativity and stress that could harm the baby. I watched my partner play with the children and chase them around the big jacaranda tree. He was pretending to be a drop bear, the mythical creature we Australians are so famous for. Whenever anyone would shake the tree it would release light violet petals to flutter and fall in the intense afternoon sun. They fell on top of my and all around and were quickly snatched into the current to be dragged down stream, the stream was a sea of glinting gold water and purple flowers swirling and swirling closer together down stream until they disappeared around the corner. I looked at my copper hair undulating in the water, flowing and sticking itself to my swollen belly. I felt it contract as an intense pain filled my body. I cried out and my partner stopped dead and ran to the water as my children crowded around the bank witnessing what will be they new siblings first moments in the world.

They walked for ages it seemed, in a good way that is. The English tourists couldn't get enough of the Australian flora and fauna. Every five paces "Oh look honey! There's a wallaby!" or "Is that a wattle?"

This continued for what was usually a 10-minute walk for 30 minutes. By the time they made their way down to the river it had cooled a little, perfect temperature for swimming. They stripped off down to their swimmer and laid the towels down and hopped on the catch some rays, which are so rare in their own country they learnt to appreciate every single one of them. An obvious clue to show that they had been appreciating the sun their usual dark blonde hair was completely bleached to a golden colour with white blonde streaks and their skin was a healthy olive colour. They felt themselves starting to get a little too hot.

"Do you wanna go…?" The man motioned at the water.

"Sure." She responded sleepily. They got up slowly and dipped their feet into the water, which was surprisingly warm. They ducked in and pushed their heads under staring at each other's comical faces in the water and their cheeks expanded with air had little air bubbles attached to them. The man looked at his wife and admired the way bubbles stayed on the tips of her eyelashes making her look like the loveliest undine. They splashed in the water as they watched the sun very slowly approach the horizon, the woman guessed it was probably around four o'clock. The sun was still high in the sky filtering through the trees.

Holding hands the laid on their backs, peering to the sky above and started to day dream and drift along with the currents ribboning their way through the river carrying fish, algae and humans alike. The lady remembered back to her teen years and her early 20's. She was an avid believer in the religion of nature, that everything is connected to the earth. She suppressed this faith marrying her husband who was no hippy green crap. Suppressed but never fully gone. She kept it alive with her garden, talking and being with her herbs. Making poultices when she was sick or had an ache. Whenever she practised it she felt so in tune. This is how she felt now; she hadn't felt this in so long, the oneness with the river, the plants and the earth. The supreme mother, She felt her maternal energy coursing through the water. She opened her eyes and gasped…

… "Argh… Ugh… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" I screamed, it hurt so much, I could feel every muscle in my body moving and straining. I could feel my organs being pushed out of the way to make room for the baby coming out. I felt my heart sink and my ribs contract, I felt my intestines move back into their place, I felt the baby pushing its way through me, pushing, pushing. It eagerly wanted to get out into the world after its time spent in its 10-month cacoon. I kept the breathing going, so far so good.

"That's good, keep the breathing going." Said my partner… Little fucker, OF COURSE that's what I'm doing! Go die! I mean, breathe, breathe deep, its not his fault, he doesn't know what its like to have a little sucker force its way through your nether regions. I squeezed and pushed and grasped his hand so tight I felt the knuckles crack, wether they were his or mine I had no idea, and I was in so much pain. The kids decided to go and play somewhere else, being 10 and 8 they were old enough to realise mummy didn't want them there.

"AAAARGH FUCK, OH GOD" I pushed, I felt it starting to exit, I kept breathing, I wont make the mistake of not breathing like I did with my first child, being on my third, I had much more experience.

"Come on! Push! Push again!" I pushed, I pushed so hard, but my muscles weren't responding, I felt like my stomach was jelly, it was numb, my head was swimming. I couldn't see properly…

The lady saw a woman and a man. She shot up, they had drifted around the corner from where their spot was. The lady had coppery hair that was long and curly, it twisted down her alabaster back. The man was tall with broad shoulders and light brown straight hair that was glistening in the light. He wasn't extremely fit but there was definite muscle under the thin layer of fat. She was about to call out a greeting when she heard the woman scream, the lady's husband jerked up out of the water, his reverie shattered. "Where are we?" he asked sleepily.

"We floated down, be quiet" she replied snappily as she rushed to the side of the woman and man.

"Is she hurt?" the man turned around revealing a face that couldn't be more than 25

"No, uh, well yes, she's giving birth so I guess so." She gave him a hard look.

"I've had 4 children, I think I should take over from here." She stepped pas the man and took the panting woman's hand.

"Hello." Was all the copper haired lady could manage, she looked around the same age as the male,

"Now is this your first time giving birth?"

"No this is my third, my other children are 8 and 10." The lady was sightly shocked, she must have had kids very young. "How old were you when you had your first?"

"I was 23 and my partner was 25" So much for the not a day over 25.

"How far apart ore the contractions?"

"I don't know, I would say a minute now." The woman was gasping she looked like she was in a tremendous amount of pain, although the copper haired lady looked so serene and sounded calm when she wasn't doing her breathing and having contractions the British lady could remember what it was like to be in that much pain, after a while your body wouldn't let you feel it.

"Ok now listen closely, your quite far along in your birth and your VERY brave to not be doing this in a hospital. I'm a retired nurse so I used to do things like this all the time. Now I am going to help ease the baby out…"

The pain, I was in so much pain, it hurt so much, I was slipping in and out of lucidity, I vaguely remember someone talking to me, helping me and I was just able to gasp out answers…

The males looked on with fascination and for the British man, extreme disgust was mixed it with it. He had never liked going to births of his children, especially not other people's births. But the other man looked like he was in rapture, he looked so happy to be having a child… Good for him. The Grumpy British man would give many things to be able to feel that sort of connection to his children but he was quite detached from them.

"I'm going to go get my other kids, I'll be back in a few minutes, ok?" the grumpy man nodded politely and introduced himself and the he was met with the same curtesy. He left and came back with two young children in the 7-11 age bracket that looked more like their father than their mother but both had their mothers bright green eyes instead of their fathers grey eyes. They both came up and said hello. The two men continued to make small talk but the younger would cut of at the screams of his wife and go and hold her hand for a bit until the British lady said to move away.

The Lady was very good at calming down the woman giving birth. She noticed the crown of the baby coming through and almost cried but clamped on her emotions so she could continue this birth, even if she felt like crying with the woman. She felt a connection with every woman that has ever been and will be, she felt the continuous wheel of life and death, joy and sadness, creation and destruction and felt whole.

She glanced up as the baby kept sliding out and saw a wind shake the magnificent jacaranda tree and it spilled its flowers unto them as the baby continued to come out creating a beautiful light. The two women felt bound together, through this mystical world that lasted for only a few moments, a world of childbirth, serenity, pain, sun dappled light and violet flowers with honey coloured light filtering through them.

"PUSH!" the woman screamed, the world seemed to be rent with it, it echoed through out the forest to be returned with the groan of the trees, the earth was responding, understanding the pain. They heard the voices and screams of women long past, they felt the concern of their males and the joy of them both. They saw a circle of every woman around them cheering, dancing, hooting, twirling, clapping, encouraging.

The copper haired lady gave one final push when she saw but didn't hear the British woman yell "PUSH". She felt the baby slide from her, she felt the relief, the exhaustion and the happiness along with the woman. She lifted the baby out of the water…

When I saw my baby, my heart melted, I felt to connected, so earthly, so amazing, and so TIRED. It was all I could do to hold him and kiss it on the head and allow the woman to deal with the rest of it. I saw my partner run to me and kissed the baby and me and helped wash her. He carried my to shore with the baby while profusely fussing and thanking this woman and her husband for being there. I simply looked and nodded to tired to do anything else, I know though that the lady understood me as I saw tears gleam in her eyes and nodded back. We waited around for the after birth to come. Everyone was talking to me and taking care of the baby and my two children were so happy to see their little brother. My eldest a boy and the other a girl looked at him and me with a look of understanding. Good, that was probably the best P.D class they will ever receive remembering the lame videos like "where do I come from?" Honestly, the whole education industry was full of shit. The two men dug out a hole, they both had their shirts of, the heat was causing them to perspire and the odd scent made me so sleepy. Under the Jacaranda tree they pushed the after birth into the hole, both of them looking rather happy with themselves and covered it with the rich earth, feeling the nutrients start to seep into to ground and heal the earth. I felt the earth become a part of me and I, a part of it. The Lady was still there holding my hand and we exchanged looks of love, trust and understanding. I fell asleep to the sounds of the forest. Oh I heard it sing of years past and summers to come, it sung of joy, sorrow and love. As I woke up we were in the car and my eldest was holding the baby in wonder. I saw the two Brits tailing behind us.

"We're going to the hospital honey, they decided to tag along if that's ok?"

"Yeah…" too tired to say anything else.

"Mummy what are you going to name him?" They passed the fragile young child, I was so scared, I had to shake him a little to make sure he hadn't died of smallness. He responded with a little cry and looked at me.

"Your name is…" I looked hard into his eyes and saw his name.

"…River…"

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A/N Tell me what you think! please **REVIEW**! YES **REVIEW**, THAT THING THAT PEOPLE **HAVEN'T** BEEN DOING! i see how many people read, i should have more reviews i tells ya!** MORE!**


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